Yerevan /Mediamax/. Commenteing on Minsk Group co-chair Igor Popov’s remark today, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Ayvazyan has said that “the status of Artsakh has been the most important principle of the conflict settlement.”

At the parliament press briefing, Ayvazyan has stressed that the status of Artsakh has always been and remains the most important principle of the settlement.

“The November 9 statement is not a settlement document. It stated the end of the war and included several fundamental principles of the stage-by-stage settlement, but the conflict cannot be considered settled because the document does not implement all fundamental principles, the issue of self-determination,” said Ara Ayvazyan.

Touching on the remarks of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the comment of the Russian co-chair, Foreign Minister Ayvazyan said:

“The Prime Minister said what he said and Mr. Popov commented. The Prime Minister’s words were taken out of context as he spoke about other issues as well.”

Ara Ayvazyan has also commented on the issue of Armenian POWs, held in Azerbaijan, saying:

“This is the priority issue for us. It is important to understand this issue does not have a simple solution. There is an opinion that peace must be established and development secured in the region, but that requires an atmosphere of trust. If Azerbaijan is unable to uphold its commitments in humanitarian issue, I cannot imagine implementation of any other matters.”